In half-bridge circuits used, e.g., in some of voltage converters, like DC/DC converters, a pair of switches may be controlled to perform a conversion. Examples for such converters are for example so-called buck converters or buck-boost converters. The switches, which may be for example transistors, may be controlled in a way that when a first switch of the pair of switches is conducting, a second switch of the pair of switches is non-conducting and vice versa. In other words, for some applications, it has to be ensured that both switches of the pair of switches are never conducting at the same time.
For example, in some cases, if both first and second switches were conducting at the same time, a short circuit condition could result.
Therefore, in conventional systems, some time passes after one of the first and second switches is opened (i.e., becomes non-conducting) before the other one of the first and second switches is closed (i.e., becomes conducting). This time is also referred to as dead time and constitutes a kind of safety margin. However, a large dead time may restrict controllability of a converter where the switches are employed or may be undesirable for other reasons, for example, if a fast switching is desired.